Sunset opened her eyes. At least, she thought she did... Everything was pitch black! The rocker flailed her arms blindly in the hopes of touching something solid, but found no purchase.
"Wh... Where am I?"
All of a sudden, a cacophony of laughter echoed throughout the darkness, sending a shiver down Sunset's spine. She recognized that laugh...
A series of flames sprouted up from the floor, then began to swirl as the laughter continued. Heat rose around Sunset as she shielded her eyes until it stopped.
"Why, you're at a reunion, Sunset Shimmer!"
The rocker shuddered at the sound of the voice. Memories of what happened inside the rainbow flowed through her anew as she let her hands down.
Before Sunset stood a twisted creature. Its red wings flapped before folding behind its back. Its crimson skin caused the rocker to shudder once more, as she recalled the searing pain of her transformation. It bared its fangs at her with a malicious grin as it straightened its black, yellow and red dress.
"Let's catch up, shall we," the Demonself asked.
----------------------------------------------
Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy all sat in chairs around an unconscious Sunset Shimmer. The infirmary had white walls that were filled with calming pictures and landscapes as soothing music played throughout the room. However, this did little to calm Sunset's friends...
Pinkie Pie simply stared at her still friend, her hair partially deflated. "I-Is she gonna be okay," she asked quietly.
Rarity was sitting with Fluttershy, stroking the animal lover's hair as she buried her head into the fashionista's chest. The poor dear couldn't bear seeing her friend in such a state! "I... I don't know, darling," she said. "I've never seen anyone have a meltdown like that before..."
Rainbow Dash got up off of her seat and began pacing around, gritting her teeth and grumbling as she folded her hands behind her back.
"Dash, what are y'all doin," Asked Applejack.
"The fuck does it look like I'm doing," Rainbow shouted abruptly, drawing a shush from a nearby nurse.
The farmer got up off of her seat, then hugged the athlete.
Upon Applejack's embrace, Rainbow sighed heavily and returned it. "I'm scared, AJ..." she sniffled.
"We all are, Sugarcube. We all are."
----------------------------------------------
The Crusaders, Wallflower Blush and Trixie were walking the halls on their way to see Sunset when Scootaloo stopped.
"Is something wrong," Sweetie Belle asked.
Scootaloo stood still for a moment, then sighed. She clenched her hands into fists and stared coldly at Wallflower. "Let's get this out of the way..."
Wallflower blinked. "Get what out of the way?"
Scootaloo began walking towards the gardener, feeling her anger rise with each step. "You were going to set us up."
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle gasped, then looked at Wallflower.
Wallflower sighed heavily as she looked away. "We don't have time for this."
"Wallflower," Sweetie Belle said in shock. "Is that true?"
The gardener remained silent as she continued walking forward.
"Yes," Trixie said, much to the shock of all.
"Dammit, Trixie. I was hoping we'd be able to clear things up after admitting our guilt to the girls!"
"I have enough guilt as it is," Trixie growled.
Wallflower walked back up to the illusionist as her face became red with anger. "And you think I don't," she asked, gesturing to herself. Sunset's scream echoed in her mind, causing her to flinch.
"I asked Wallflower, not you, Trixie," Sweetie Belle said coldly. "I want to hear it from her."
"Yes. It's true. Now can we please get moving?"
"Fine," Scootaloo said as she folded her arms. "But we'll finish this later!"
----------------------------------------------
Sunset Shimmer had long since lost track of time. Had it been minutes? Hours? Years? She had lost all sense of time once her mind was assaulted with memories of all her tormenting, ending with her jumping off of Canterlot High, only for it to repeat. How many times had she been through this vicious cycle? The rocker felt what little sanity she had left erode bit by bit with each repeat.
"Please, for the love of Celestia..." Sunset could barely whisper as her voice was hoarse from her shrieks of mental and emotional agony.
"Please what?"
Sunset sniffled. "Please... kill me."
The Demonself grinned. "I thought you'd never ask." It picked up Sunset with one hand, then pulled back its other arm...
...and impaled it through Sunset Shimmer's heart.
----------------------------------------------
Wallflower, Trixie and the Crusaders stopped in their tracks as an all too familiar shriek filled their ears.
"Goddammit..." Wallflower blinked back tears, cursing herself.
Trixie put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Come on. We have to keep moving."
The gardener took a deep breath, then nodded.
----------------------------------------------
A nurse ran forward and injected Sunset with sedatives. Within moments, the rocker stopped screaming.
Sunset shuddered as tears fell from her eyes, then took stock of her situation before speaking. "G... guys..." The rocker reminded herself that right now, it didn't matter whether or not she deserved friends. What did matter was that she needed them. "I-I." She sniffled, then burst into tears, causing her friends to shoot toward her and hug her as tightly as possible.
----------------------------------------------
The five girls reached the office door, then winced as they heard Sunset's bawling.
Wallflower got close to the door, then sighed as she looked at the Crusaders. "You three stay here."
"What?!" All three shouted in unison.
"But... but why," Scootaloo asked.
"Isn't it obvious," Trixie asked with a sad smile. "We were going to use you as scapegoats, remember?"
"B-But I feel so bad for Sunset!"
"Be that as it may, you three are innocent as far as Wallflower and I are concerned."
Wallflower sniffled. "I shouldn't have gotten you girls involved in the first place. C-Can you ever forgive me?"
"It's too soon to say," Apple Bloom said flatly.
"I guess that's fair enough."
Trixie took Wallflower by the hand. "Are you ready?"
"...As I'll ever be."
The two entered the office, leaving the Crusaders out in the hallway.
----------------------------------------------
Sunset heaved a sigh, then blew her nose.
"Oh, I'm so glad you're okay," Pinkie said happily.
"Are you okay," Rainbow asked.
"Honestly," Sunset said wearily. "I don't know."
Two pairs of incoming footsteps stopped any further conversation as Trixie and Wallflower appeared before the six friends.
"Hey," Wallflower said quietly. "We need to talk."
Rainbow clenched her hands into fists. "Like hell we do!"
"Rainbow Dash, please," Rarity said, then turned to the duo. "I would simply love to hear what you have to say..." Her gaze became an icy glare. "...Anon-A-Miss."